PayScale’s VIP Blog Roundup: Summer Job Search Tips, When You’d Rather Be at the Beach

Every time of year is a tough time to be job hunting. In the fall, working parents are dealing with back-to-school; at the holidays, hiring managers are making merry, whether they like it or not, just like everyone else. Summer job searches, however, can be particularly challenging. It’s hard to get motivated when you’d prefer to take the summer off. (Even if, like most of us, you can’t afford it.) In this week’s roundup, we look at ways to maintain job search motivation during the summer months, plus tips on doing a digital detox, and how to deal with those well-meaning questions about your career, when you’ve recently graduated from college.

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“According to the recruitment software company Jobvite, it takes 43 days on average for an open job to be filled. But that average isn’t consistent during a summer job search,” writes Hu. “Add in summer distractions, and your job search could extend to 20 weeks … or more.”

It’s not just that hiring managers are on vacation; it’s also hard to keep your head in the game, when the beach beckons and school-aged family members are home and underfoot. Before you put off your job search until fall, however, take a look at Hu’s tips.

“Remember when we all had hopes that technology was going to reduce our ‘busy time?’ Well, guess what? If anything, the exact opposite has happened — to a degree that I bet no one could have ever predicted 20 or 30 years ago,” Biro writes. “Now, I am a huge fan of technology and of the positive aspects it offers for work and play. However, I also understand the benefits of a ‘digital detox,’ and unplugging from technology from time to time.”

What are those benefits? Better productivity, for one, as well as higher quality of life. In short, if you want to be a healthy, happy person as well as a valued employee, it’s in your best interests to unplug once in a while. (And, it’s in your boss’s best interests to support you.)

Of course, all this is easier said than done. Biro offers some tips for brave souls about to embark on a digital detox, here.

“What’s next for you now that you’ve graduated? You’re going to put that hard-earned degree to use and eventually get out of mom and dad’s basement, right? Do you have a job lined up yet?”

If reading that makes you cringe, you probably have been a recent graduate at some point in your career. As Kat Boogaard points out, answering these questions is annoying enough if you have a gig. When you’re still trying to land that first post-college job, it’s downright agonizing.

To make things easier, Boogaard offers several tips on answering without alienating your friends and family.

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